Afleveringen
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2024 has been an amazing year and I want to thank everybody that has a subscribed and listened to as well as the guests that came on to the show. We've had some amazing growth and we couldn't have done it without all of you. I also wanted to take a minute and just look back at some of the conversations that we had over the course of the year. Thanks everyone again for supporting the podcast and we look forward to a really successful 2025.
In the episode we feature clips from the conversations with Gerard Vroomen (Cervelo Founder), Simon Mottram (Rapha Founder), David Trimble (Red Hook Crit Founder), and Matthew Stephens (GCN).
00:00 - Intro
00:53 - Gerard Vroomen
12:46 - Simon Mottram
22:42 - David Trimble
33:00 - Matthew Stephens
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Wolfgang Hohmann is the founder of Wolfi's bikes in the United Arab Emirates. From selling bikes from a corner of his brother's garage in Germany's black forest to building one of the middle east's most prestigious cycling retail operations, Wolfi's story is a testament to the power of persistence.
What started as a side hustle while working as a chef eventually grew into a cycling empire that caught the attention of the UAE Royal family who became an investment partner in 2021.
Today Wolfi's operates 12 business units, including retail locations, distribution events, management, and cycling academies with over 150 employees. His unique blend of hospitality, mindset and cycling passion has not only built a successful business, but it's helped transform cycling culture across the UAE.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Nicolò Ildos is a seasoned industry veteran who has worked for some of cycling's biggest brands, including FIZIK, Campagnolo, and Pirelli.
In the episode, we dive into the intricate world of sports marketing in professional cycling. From his early days as an amateur racer and product tester to global sports marketing manager, Nicolo shares his insights on what makes successful sponsorships work. The complexities of world tour team partnerships and the evolving dynamics of cycling sponsorships. He discusses everything from the multi-million Euro costs of the world tour bike sponsorships to the critical importance of activation strategies. Offering a rare behind the scenes look at how brands leverage their investments in professional cycling.
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Claudio Masnata is the Global Marketing Manager at Bianchi. We dive deep into one of cycling's most iconic brands, from his early days as a competitive cyclist to leading marketing at the 140-year-old brand, Claudio shares fascinating insights into managing the iconic brand in the digital age. We explore the delicate balance between tradition and innovation, the challenges of expanding into new markets, and how data-driven decisions are reshaping the cycling industry.
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GFNY is the world's largest endurance sports marathon series with over 30 events held in 15 countries.
The story of Ulrich Fluhme and his wife Lydia starting the GFNY is nothing short of remarkable. Uli had a job in finance at a Swiss bank in Manhattan. When he and his partner Lydia literally took a leap into the abyss when they decided to start the GFNY.
This Is a tale of two highly driven people who had a vision to bring the Italian Gran Fondo to the big apple, in the process, they built a life for themselves around cycling events and traveling the world.
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Anne Hed is CEO and Co-founder of HED cycling. Anne's journey is one of perseverance, innovation and family legacy. Anne is a native of Minnesota and shares the remarkable story of HED cycling, which she founded with her late husband, Steve Hed.
In this conversation, we hear how she and the company have weathered personal tragedy and technological shifts to remain relevant in the incredibly competitive cycling business. Anne takes us through HED's early days of handcrafted wheels to its latest innovations all while remaining committed to USA manufacturing and family values.
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Travis Erwin has extensive experience in the US cycling market. He began his career in various bike shops, working his way up to become a store manager at Performance Bicycle in Scottsdale, Arizona. In the early 2010s, he progressed to Regional Sales Manager for Pivot Cycles.
Travis then moved on to help build Reynolds Cycling's OEM wheel business, eventually becoming the Global Sales Manager in 2017.
After that, he joined The Pro's Closet. At The Pro's Closet, Travis played a key role in building the business and contributing to its success. As you may know, The Pro's Closet unfortunately closed recently. You'll be able to hear more about the reasoning behind this and get an inside look at some of the circumstances the team was facing at that time.
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John Harrison is an entrepreneur and angel investor. He purchased the US bike brand Parlee in 2023, after it ran into trouble during the post COVID inventory glut.
This conversation is exploration of how a relative outsider of the industry is bringing experience and knowledge of operations to right the ship, and relaunch the premium bike brand.
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I have been wanting to have a conversation around the state of cycling marketing in 2024. Joshua Riddle is the marketing manager for Hayes bicycle. We've had Joshua on the show before, and in the conversation we go deep into the current state of marketing in 2024.
We talk about topics around channel strategy, social media, website management, campaigns and the evolution of cycling marketing over the past few years. This was a fun conversation and I think you can get a lot of value from it.
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Cervelo founder Gerard Vroomen is an entrepreneur and an engineer. When I asked Gerard if he is more entrepeneur or engineer, his answer was YES.
It was truly amazing to talk with Gerard and hear about his journey from student to building one of the most important bicycle brands in the world.During the conversation, you really get a sense of his firsthand experience.
He shared how they gained traction with high-performance triathlon bikes and how, through innovation, tenacity, and hard work, they made significant inroads into the challenging North American market.
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In this live panel recording we discussed insights about Channel Strategy and how brands are navigating the delicate balance of D2C, Marketplace, and traditional distribution.
My guests were Michael Stimola CEO ENVE Composites Stijn Vriends CEO Vittoria Group Steve Smith Brand Manager Castelli Cycling and Jonathan Sherwood Sales and Marketing at SCHUBERTH.
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Alex Boyce is a journalist and bike tester for Moto.it, he also has his own YouTube channel, @Alexbiketester. Our conversation revolves around his career path and the constantly evolving intersection of media and cycling.
Alex started his professional career through kite surfing photography before transitioning to motocross. Alex tells us about how his experience in motorcross helped him transition into filming and eventually the world of mountain biking. This discussion dives into the challenges and rewards of working in modern media, and the world of cycling.
Link to Alex's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexbiketester
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At Eurobike 2024 I did some short interviews with managers that I know in the industry. The idea was to take the temperature of the market for feedback on how things are looking in July 2024. My conversations included Jayu Yang (HARO), Gaspare Licata (Crank Brothers), Samuele Bressan (Pirelli), Martin Banke (Ceramic Speed), and Gary Fisher.
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The following is my conversation with ENVE CEO, Michael Stimola. Michael is a long-time entrepreneur who started out in the early eighties, founding Carbonite, an R&D materials company that supplied carbon fiber tubes for use in manufacturing, healthcare, and aerospace.
Michael then went on to found Sandvik Design-Build, a general contracting company that designed and built storefronts in the greater New York City area. In addition, Michael was a board member of Cannondale Bicycle Corporation from 1997 to 2003, during which time Cannondale was a privately held company.
He also started a franchise and licensed food concept store called Sandella's, growing it from zero to 150 stores before eventually exiting in 2016. He then took over as the turnaround Chief Executive Officer for ENVE in 2023. This is where we really get to see some insight into how he was able to come in, get his hands dirty, and help ENVE pull out of the turmoil they were facing in the post-COVID environment.
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Stijn Vriends is the chairman and CEO of Vittoria group. Vittoria is based in Bergamo Italy and is among the top producers of bicycle tires in the world. In our conversation we talk about how he has helped Vittoria grow and flourish since taking over in 2020. We also discuss his experience in the private equity sector and how, when managed well, private equity can be extremely beneficial for businesses and why it's been so prevalent in cycling in recent years.
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Stefan Reisinger is the Managing Director of FAIRNAMIC GmbH, which is the company that runs the EUROBIKE fair. I reached out to Stephen because I wanted to give the listeners a better look inside the largest bicycle specific trade show in the world.
We dive into the reasoning behind the move from Friedrichshafen to Frankfurt and why the trade show is important, the evolution of the trade show, their goals and how to best leverage the show for both brands and visitors.
This was a great opportunity to kind of see behind the curtain of EUROBIKE.
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When I started the Business of Cycling podcast there was definitely one person that I had in mind that I was hoping to interview, and it was Simon Mottram. I've worked in cycling for over 10 years. And what Rapha did in the cycling business is nothing short of incredible. They truly disrupted the industry, and found totally new ways to look at products like cycling clothing.
His story is incredible. What you can take away from it is how he was able to take his really unique blend of experience, and focus his energy on what became Rapha. To this day Rapha is still among the most important cycling brands on the market.
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Joshua Riddle is originally from North Carolina and and has been working in the cycling industry in Italy for 15 years. He started his career at Trek Italy 2010 which recently closed their doors due to consolidation of their European offices to Madrid.
Joshua has worked in Marketing for Trek, Pinarello, Campagnolo, Basso Bikes, and is currently the Global Marketing Manager at Hayes Bicycles.
I spoke with Joshua about the current state of the industry and the evolution of the bicycle market in recent years. We also discussed what he sees as unique about Italian cycling brands that the brands themselves often have a hard time recognizing.
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This conversation was recorded at a live panel at the 2024 cycling world event in Dusseldorf on March 15th. The topic of the panel was COVID overstocks and the state of the industry and the aftermath.
My guests were ROSE Bikes Anatol Sostmann, Old Man Mountain Products Erik Fenner Schicke Mütze Carsten Wien and provided three unique viewpoints on the causes and lessons learned from the overstocks caused by the COVID pandemic aftermath.
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Jayu Yang is one of the most experienced entrepreneurs in the Taiwanese bike industry. Her grandfather started Kenda tire in 1962. And she carried on the family tradition by taking over her father's business Kendstone In 2001. Kendstone is among the top premium bicycle assemblers in Taiwan.
In Taiwanese culture, women were not typically considered for running a family business. Therefore her path to running Kendstone was unexpected as her father was in need of a trusted manager during a time of crisis. She grew the company substantially throughout the two thousands and sold the company in 2019 and stayed on as the CEO until 2021.
This conversation aims to give you a look inside the workings of the cycling industry from a Taiwanese perspective.
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